City store will close this weekend

A Poundworld store in the city centre has been earmarked for closure this weekend.

The struggling company, which was put into administration last month, will see 25 of its 335 nationwide stores shut on Sunday, with the loss of 242 jobs. This includes the shop in The Ridings.

The closure is another blow for the district after it was announced last month that almost 100 jobs would be lost at the company’s Normanton headquarters.

Meanwhile, the city’s larger stores on Westgate and Snowhill Retail Park will remain open for the time being.

Confusingly, many of the stores not earmarked for closure still have ‘Closing Down Sales’ posters in their windows, despite the administrators, Deloitte, claiming talks are ongoing to find a suitable buyer.

Poundworld’s first store was opened in Wakefield in 1974 by entrepreneur Chris Edwards.